you might recall that i mentioned i’m going to be in “li’l abner” at new salem’s outdoor theater this summer. it was a little hard for me to remember this because i haven’t had to rehearse and haven’t had to rehearse…they started practice a few weeks ago, but last night was my very first night. it went well; we blocked and ran through two of the five scenes i’m in, and all i had to do was sashay around and deliver my few lines. i tried not to have my usual minnie mouse voice, but instead something a little deeper and sexy, like marilyn monroe in “some like it hot.” maybe i’ll buy that movie so i can watch it again, not to mention that it’s a classically funny film.
i bought the dvd for li’l abner online for a measly five bucks, but it hasn’t arrived yet. i also purchased “finian’s rainbow,” because that was the movie listed that people who bought “li’l abner” also bought. i saw “finian’s rainbow” when i was a kid and i have a vague memory of liking it, but it’ll be interesting to see what i think of it now. it was directed by francis ford coppola, his very first movie, and the only musical he directed. here’s what they say about the movie on amazon.com:
**Amazon.com video review: A funny thing happened to Finian’s Rainbow in between its debut as a Broadway musical in 1947 and its appearance as a film in 1968. After 21 years, its theme of racial tension in the American South was no longer cutting edge, and the fact that its heroes are a group of sharecroppers called the Rainbow Valley Tobacco Cooperative dates it even further. Add a number of subplots and the heavy hand of a 29-year-old Francis Ford Coppola directing his first and only musical, and the two-and-a-half-hour running time feels bloated. Hermes Pan (best known for the classic Astaire-Rogers movies) is credited with choreographing the overbusy musical numbers, but he was reportedly overruled by Coppola at every turn. Still, there is a lot to enjoy in this movie, most notably Fred Astaire in his last lead role in a musical. Fred plays Finian McLonergan, an Irishman who has traveled to America in hopes of planting a pilfered pot of gold near Fort Knox and watching it grow. Even at 69, Fred shows he is still capable of a sprightly step and warbling “Look to the Rainbow.” Another plus is the casting of ’60s pop icon Petula Clark as his daughter, as she sings with an unaffected loveliness. Finally, the score by Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg includes two of the best Broadway songs ever written–“Old Devil Moon” and “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?”–as well as the comic ditty “When I’m Not Near the Girl I Love.” –David Horiuchi
hmm.
my character in “li’l abner” is Impassionata Von Climax, a vamp. my boss/sugar daddy, general bullmoose, sicks me on li’l himself, in order to steal his Yocumberry tonic. last night i started thinking about how odd it is that i get cast in roles like this; my character in “noises off” was also a vamp, or maybe more of a tramp, plus i had to wear the very skimpy costume in that one. but i was also supposed to be the sexy, albeit comic, babe.
the thing is that i’m just so not a babe, in any way, despite what my sweet husband will say about me. but i guess i can fool people into thinking i’m one, by shimmying and batting my eyes and acting like i’m the cat’s meow. sort of a caricature of what a femme fatale might be.
when i was in junior high, and i hate to bring that period in my life up at all because i prefer to pretend it never happened, i was the bookish, chubby, acned, dorky, geeky, very unattractive girl. boys absolutely didn’t pay any attention to me. as i got older some of my more unattractive elements went away, but i’ve never been a person who turns heads. so i think it’s funny that i get cast in these roles, because i can pretend to be a knockout. sashaying around.
but not too much sashaying – i only had the one night of rehearsal this week, and then two nights next week, and three nights the week after that. kevin and i did this play because we thought it’d be great to be in something together (besides our scintillating performances as the king and queen in the ballet “sleeping beauty,” where we were awesome at the strutting around and sitting down for long periods of time), but we haven’t been to rehearsal together yet. and i don’t think we will for a few weeks now, because after next week he goes away to fencing coaches college in colorado for almost two weeks and by the time he gets back there will only be a week and a half before the play starts. but THEN, finally, we’ll be in the play together.
except never in the same scenes.
the other day mom went to lunch with some friends, including her friend kellie who is moving to wichita kansas very soon, and kellie told mom she reads this every day! that makes me want to be better about writing more. thanks for reading, kellie, and i hope you have a great time in wichita.
ok then,
very sultry grace.